Guest Blogger: Jeanette Vargas Salguero
The Eve
Syndrome: Constant Craving As a pastor and leader, people come to me to share
their stories; relay their fears, hurts, and desires. Interestingly, I’ve
noticed a common denominator in my dialogues with them: a constant craving. I’m
not talking about craving chocolate or a banana split. I’m referring to the
powerful desire for something that tends to overtake your life. I hear the
sadness and desperation; the discontent; the desire to be different or be like
someone else; the yearning and the longing for that significant person or a
child; the desperation for something different – something more. It’s a type of
craving that takes root and shifts the mind, body and soul to a level of
dissatisfaction and unhappiness. The craving grows until days are spent in
endless displeasure, and minds are engulfed with what’s missing. The craving
takes root, driving you to obsess over the lack – driving you towards
hopelessness. This is not the typical desire to lose those 10 lbs. that seems
to stick like leeches, or the wish to win a $10,000 shopping spree. This
craving is deeper. It’s dark. It makes you feel lonely and desperate. It steals
your joy, your peace, your rest. It rams depression down your throat. It makes
you obsessed with wondering what’s wrong with you, what’s wrong with other
people, what’s wrong with the world. It leaves you with an aching void in your
life.
The Cradle
of Craving Caveat: it’s not wrong to desire things and pray for them. For
example, I speak with many women who desire to be married; however, their level
of want is healthy. Their desire does not control or consume them. The
aspiration does not interfere with who they are nor their relationship with God
or with others. If your desire, regardless if it’s good, turns into a craving
that affects your core; then that craving has become an idol in your life. And,
God will not have any idols before Him. -Exodus 20:3 “Now the serpent…said to
the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the
garden’?” The women said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in
the garden, but God did say, “You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in
the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “…When
the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the
eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.” “…Then
the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said,
“The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” -Genesis 3: 1-12
Photo Credit: Aphrodite
Question: If
all that God created was good and sufficient in the garden, why did Eve eat of
the fruit? Why did she feel she needed more? Why did she focus on what she
didn’t have?
1. Eve
internalized the message of the serpent: We are all confronted with temptations
daily. But, when we open our ears to listen and our hearts to receive the
message that what God has already given is not enough – our disposition
changes. When we allow the devourer of our souls to plant a seed and show us
what we don’t have, we begin to believe that we are truly missing out. Eve had
all she needed, but she allowed the serpent to highlight and bring to the
forefront the one thing she didn’t have. The serpent painted the picture of
lack and she took that message in.
2. Eve
stared till she craved: So, not only did Eve take the message in and let it
marinate in her soul, she took a step further. Eve didn’t shoo away the message
(nor the messenger) and chose to focus on the good that she already had. No.
She approached the tree and “saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food
and pleasing to the eye, and desirable for gaining wisdom”. She stared at that
tree and its fruit and she craved! Her senses were heightened at the
possibility of this new, different, better and pleasing life. Even before she
took a bite, her senses told her this was what she needed for fulfillment. Very
much like us when our mind presses play & rewind over and over, I’m almost
sure Eve visited that tree often fanning the flame of her craving. I’m sure she
stared and analyzed until her mind was convinced and her feelings were aligned
with the notion that her current status was not where she wanted to be.
3. Eve made
an idol of her craving: She rationalized and convinced herself that she needed
to have what she was craving in order to thrive. This fruit before her would
fill the void, satisfy the hunger and provide understanding – natural God-given
needs. So, what was so bad about that? Well, now, what the God of the universe
had created for her was no longer enough. Everything else around her was not as
pleasing and favorable as this. This tree would be the epitome of nourishment
and its fruit would provide wisdom. What God had created with His very hands
would have to take the back seat. What she craved for was superior, better, more
fulfilling than her current state. She wouldn’t need God as much anymore. In
fact, she didn’t even take this matter to him. She just craved and ate.
The Eve
syndrome of craving has the power to take away our joy and peace. And, if
fanned, it has the power to stagnate our lives and take us down the precipice
of depression. It is a subtle epidemic in today’s world that causes
dissatisfaction, tearing our relationships with God and people apart, and
making us blind to all the goodness around us. Be aware. Remember, that “the
heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can
understand it?” – Jeremiah 17:9 “Lord, apart from you I have no good thing…you
alone are my portion and my cup…I will praise the Lord who counsels me, even at
night when my heart instructs me…you will make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures on your
right hand.” –Psalm 16
Jeanette Vargas Salguero
Urban Strategies, The Lamb"s Church
Urban Strategies, The Lamb"s Church
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